"And it really was awful!"

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 1991 (Part 1)
     Guy was able to get Friday off to go with me for the 3-hr. test.  I just realized  I didn't finish telling about the test Wed.  When they did the blood test at the end of the hour (after I saw Dr. Graves) it was 205.  She said the border line was 140 and that since it was so high I needed to come back for the 3-hr. test.  So she scheduled me for 8 AM Friday.  Anyway, Guy was told he could have Fri. off if he worked til 6:00 Thu.  He's been getting off about 2:00-2:30.  Well, the people that were supposed to relieve his people didn't show up til 8:00.  They thought they should or could go eat & get there whenever they were done.  He was also going to be switched to the eve watch starting Sat. 2-10.  That means he won't be able to go to Chief's last class.  He wouldn't let me go again last week even though I was getting better.  He said the last class they'll just be graded and get their certificates.  He's going to call them in the morning to let them know & see what we need to do for Chief to graduate.
     I sure am wandering....For the 3-hr test I couldn't have anything to eat or drink but water from midnight the night before.  Guy skipped breakfast with me.  We got there right at 8:00 & they didn't open til a little after.  It was awhile before anyone showed up in the lab.  First she did a finger stick then took blood from my arm.  There were 2 others doing this at the same time except one of them was only there for the 1 hr. test.  This time I had to drink a whole 10-oz. bottle of the awful orange stuff.  And it really was awful!  While we waited for the hourly blood draws Guy read some magazines and I mostly leaned over & dozed on him.  I'd taken my journal to catch up writing but was too tired to write.  I hadn't slept very well because of worrying so much about the test.  A little while after the second hour the girl called me to the lab & said to bring my charge ticket.  When I got in there she said she should have my results in a minute & it looked like I was fine.  I went to call Guy in so he could hear the final results.  The number were 70, 136, &148.  Marian (the nutritionist) had given me her number at home & said to call & let her know the results.  I tried calling her twice Fri. aft. but she wasn't home.  She called me yesterday morning.  When I told her the numbers she said that was great.  My next appt. with her is Thursday.
     After we left the drs. office we went to McDonald's to eat--I wasn't as hungry as I thought I'd be.  We went to pick up Guy's paycheck & to the credit union.  Then we came home & took a nap.
     I don't remember if it was Fri or Sat. when they called to tell Guy he could have Sun. off.  He was able to go to church both times.  That was a treat.  Carole let us hold Martha during church but whenever I started holding her she started crying.  Carole ended up going to children's class with Meaghen so Guy had her for the whole service.  He took her out for a walk a couple of times--after I tried holding her.

"it didn't seem like she's been moving around as much today."

Wednesday, January 30, 1991
     I called Dr. Baker Friday to tell him I was feeling worse.  When I finally got ahold of him he said he could write me prescriptions for humibid and erythromycin.  At first he said he'd call it in to Boone then he called back & said they wouldn't let him do that & asked if I wanted him to mail them to me.  I told him I needed something before Mon. & said I could come to the hospital pharmacy after Guy got home.  He said he'd leave them at the pharmacy.  Guy wasn't too thrilled about it when he got home.  He'd asked for Sat. or Sun. off & they said no so he was in a bad mood.  But we went to the hospital and got the medicine, not without trouble.  I tried to explain it to the volunteer & he couldn't find it and called this girl over.  I don't know what he'd told her but I had to explain it again a couple of times.  Then she said she'd try calling the dr. & I said he wouldn't be there, he was leaving the prescriptions there because he'd be gone by the time I got there.  Guy grabbed my ID and said he'd go upstairs & see if anyone was there.  Not 2 minutes later the man found it.  I went to catch Guy but he'd used the stairs intead of waiting for the elevator.  He wasn't too pleased to find out he went up there for nothing.  No one was there anyway.  At least we got the medicine.
     After that we went to Sears to pick up the maternity jeans I'd ordered.  It's taken so long to get some.  I bought some at K-Mart and they were so comfortable but the first time I washed them they got little holes in them.  I started to mend them & found even more holes so I decided to take them back.  They said I could exchange them but there weren't any more.  I looked in the Sears store and at Penney's but they were so expensive and all had some kind of zippers or bows or something at the bottom of the legs.  I finally ordered them out of the catalog in size 10, the size the ones from K-Mart had been.  They were just fine then I washed them before wearing them and they shrank too much.  So I took them back & fiddled around and didn't order them again til last week, this time in size 12.  I washed them first and tried them on & they're fine.  They're just a little stiff cause they're not prewashed like the K-Mart ones were.
     Meanwhile, my cold has gotten better in some ways and worse in others.  My throat's not as sore but it still sounds kind of rough.  My nose isn't completely stopped up.  It moves from side to side & I still have to blow quite a bit.  The worst thing is when I lay down on my left side I wheeze so bad I can't breathe for coughing.  I haven't gotten much sleep the past two nights.  I can get comfortable on my right side but I wake up an hour or two later & my hip or shoulder or something is aching or numb & I need to move.  But every time I try my left side, no matter how many pillows I use or how I place them, I eventually start wheezing, if I'm not from the start, which is most of the time.
     I spen most of yesterday & this morning in bed.  I had an appt. with Dr. Graves at 2:55 this afternoon.  I was supposed to go an hour early for the diabetes screening.  I didn't know if I'd be able to drive so I called Barb Leland to see if she could drive me.  Guy said he'd come pick me up when he got off work.  She said she could and she even came in with me to visit a little while before she had to go pick up Jamie.
     Anyway, I had to drink this orange drink that was very sweet.  It wasn't bad at first but the more I drank the worse it got.  She told me to try just drinking it down & I tried but almost gagged on it.  I was supposed to go back in an hour for the blood test.  The girl said it was ok for me to drink water.  I'd taken some with me hoping to be able to.
     The nurse weighed me & took my blood pressure.  I lost a pound.  She called me to an exam room long before my appt. time & I thought that was great.  But I was in there for 25 minutes.  I finally got off the table and sat on the bench in the corner.  Dr. Graves was nice & friendly but he has a tendancy to get real close when talking with you.  He said he'd told Dr. Baker whatever medicine I needed to get well was ok.  He said I might want to go ahead & have my blood gasses checked before my next visit with Dr. Baker.  He said not to worry about the medicine or the effects of my coughing on the baby.  I just need to be sure to take good care of myself.  He listened to the heartbeat and it sounded fine to me.  I'd been worried because it didn't seem like she's been moving around as much today.

"I'll pick up where I left off."

Wed., January 23, 1991
     I had started writing while I was waiting to see the nutritionist last week but I didn't have to wait even five minutes.  I'll pick up where I left off.
     Guy said they let him come home to rest so he could go take the chiefs' test the next morning.  He had to report back to ASF after the test.  They'd already divided up the watches and he got stuck with the mid watch at the ASF office.  He said it was so boring.  He kept asking for a different watch & they finally switched him yesterday.  He didn't have to go in last night.  He had to be in at 5:30 this morning and got off at 2:30.  Instead of the office he's patrolling on foot at the Lafayette Clinic.  He said it was cold but he liked it a lot better than sitting in the office all night.  Only thing is, he's coming down with a cold--me too.
     He got up early from sleeping yesterday to take me to my appointment with Dr. Baker at PNH.  On the way over there I noticed my throat was irritated and by the time we saw the dr. it was making me cough a lot, just a dry little cough.  He told me to try using the tobramycin 3 times a day for a week plus do my therapy twice a day.  If I'm not better in a week I'm supposed to let him know.  Well, by suppertime I had a sore throat and it started hurting really bad in my very upper chest when I coughed.  I slept better than I thought I would but I didn't feel very good when I got up.  It wasn't hurting my chest when I coughed any more but I was having to constantly eat or drink something to keep my throat from hurting.  And when I wasn't doing that I was using a Hall's.  It's been a little better for a few minutes at a time but not for long.  My nose is stopped up off & on--my ears too.  I've taken some Tylenol three times since last night.  I can't tell if they've made any difference.
     I called this aft. to ask about which Robitussin formulas it was ok to take.  The nurse I talked to said all of them are ok.  She also said that if I have a fever of 100 degrees or more for 24 hours, I'd need to come in for a strep test.  I hadn't even thought about that.  I took my temp. & it was 99.4 degrees.  Guy took his when he got home and his was 100 degrees.  He took some aspirin and was feeling better after supper.  He went to Chief's class without me.  It's been colder since Mon. so I need to stay in, especially at night.  I hope I don't get any worse & I hope Guy doesn't either.  I have no idea where or who I caught this from.  Guy said it's probably from going out yesterday into the extreme weather change.  It's been nice lately, warm even when it was raining & now it's freezing cold.  I've been trying to be good & I thought my resistance was up because I was eating so well.  So I don't know where this came from.
     The nutritionist had suggested I cut back on fats.  I'd already stopped buttering my bread but now I'm switching to 2% milk instead of whole.  I haven't noticed any change yet.  I'm up to 123 lbs. now.  She & the drs. say that's good.  Next week I have the diabetes screening and 2 wks after that I have another ultrasound.

Shortest Entry Ever

Wed., Jan. 17, 1991
     Guy came home at 12:45 last night.  I'd only been asleep 20-25 minutes.


That's the shortest entry she's ever made...wow!

"The US & other allies began their attack on Iraq tonight."

Wed., January 16, 1991
     Even though we've been expecting it for some time, now that it's really happened it's hit me harder than I thought it would.  The US & other allies began their attack on Iraq tonight.  It was on the national news at 6:30 but had begun about an hour & a half earlier.  We went to Chief's class as usual because we didn't hear from anyone saying Guy had to go in.  We took the remote for the answering machine and Guy called when we got there--there were no messages.  He tried again after class and there were but the remote wouldn't work.  So we rushed home and he found out he had to go in right now.  I hope he's not in big trouble for not being home when they called.  He said he'd call me whenever he could--who knows when that will be.  He doesn't know how long he'll be there or exactly what they'll have him doing.  I started crying when he said he'd have to go in tonight & didn't stop til after he left.  It's just all so scary because of not knowing how long all this will last or exactly what's going to happen.
     The pregnancy's been going ok.  The baby's kicks are starting to get stronger.  I saw Dr. Rand a week ago today.  I weighed 123.  I had to refresh his memory about the spells I'd been having.  I told him I'd only had one since I stopped using the antacids.  He said I could try one that has aluminum but not magnesium.  But I haven't been taking anything, I've just been suffering through the heartburn.  It's not bad every night & I think I'd rather put up with it than have another of those spells, especially as bad as the one was that Sun. morning.
     I haven't had any new symptoms.  Except for the past two nights, I've been sleeping better at night--not having to get up to go to the bathroom & then not being able to get back to sleep.  The times I did sleep til Guy got up, Chief usually woke me up whining when Guy came back up to brush his teeth and say goodbye.  Then I'd end up getting some milk & eating some cereal, reading a little while (or a long while) & going back to sleep til about 9:00.  I rarely take a nap in the afternoon when I get up that late.  I stopped working with Chief every day cause I just run out of breath & energy.  Guy's been keeping it up fairly well but now he might not have time.  I'll probably try it tomorrow and see how it goes.  He did really well in class tonight.  It's after midnight so I'll probably fall asleep watching tv.  Guy probably won't call til tomorrow.

"he doesn't know what I like"

                                                                                                                  Sunday, Dec. 30, 1990 (Part 2)
     Guy did say he wasn't going to buy me any more jewelry cause he doesn't know what I like.  But this is the first time I've exchanged anything and I probably wouldn't have exchanged this if he hadn't been asking and found out I didn't care that much for my birthstone.  Maybe part of it is that he was already aggravated about the problem with the mixer.
     I had another 'spell' this morning about 3:00.  It was the worst ever.  I think I almost fainted.  Guy was with me in the bathroom.  Everything got kind of dark and either there was this fuzzy sound in my ears or either I just couldn't hear anything.  I was leaning on Guy & he had me put my head down between my knees as best I could but he had to hold me to keep me from falling off the toilet.  I had the other symptoms too - short of breath, cold sweat, & weak.  But this time we know it wasn't because of my blood sugar falling.  Only about 30 minutes before that I'd had a glass of milk and a few sugar crisps.
     Guy came up with some toast & milk after he ate & said he had an idea.  None of this started happening til after I started taking the antacid tablets.  I'd thought of that the first time it happened but when I switched from the Tums to the Maalox I figured it would stop if it was the Tums that was causing it.  I didn't think it would be just antacids in general but maybe it is.  Guy said for me to keep track of exactly when I take one & see if we can determine a pattern.  He was also going to try asking Carole about it if they're at church today.  He wouldn't let me go.  I slept for about an hour.  I hadn't gotten back to sleep after that spell til Guy got in the shower & he had to wake me up to eat.  I hope I'll be able to get a good nap this aft.

"Silly."

                                                                                                                  Sunday, Dec. 30, 1990 (Part 1)
     We went to Sears & Penney's yesterday.  We exchanged the mixer at Sears for a larger one.  It was the only one there and it had been opened but the lady said if anything was wrong with it we could bring it back but she didn't know where or if they'd get any more.  We put the $44 difference on the charge account.  When we tried it out later it worked fine but figured out why it had been returned.  The dough hooks are supposed to be two different shapes, specifically to fit on the left or right and they were both for the right side.  I called the store & the girl said they could check with the manufacturer after the holidays and see if they could send just the dough hooks.  Guy's just so frustrated by it all he said for me to take care of it.  I hope they can replace the hooks cause the only other alternative is to get a refund and wait to see if they get any more in or get it somewhere else.  She said all their ordering was done automatically by computer so they can't just order another mixer.  Silly.
     After going to Sears we went to Lynnhaven Mall.  First we took Guy's watch to that place in the middle to see if they could fix it.  It'll be $26 (compared to $40 that the jewelry store wanted) and that includes new watchband, a new seal for the back, and a new battery!
     Then we went to Penney's jewelry dept. to see about exhanging the jewelry.  Guy said if I wanted I could turn the whole set in for something completely different.  I'd thought they'd have a picture of it in white gold but they didn't.  And there wasn't anything at all pink.  The man kept hovering over us (the girl who sold to Guy wasn't there) & I finally asked if I could look around some before deciding & I went all around the counter.  Practically everything was yellow gold.  There wasn't really anything that struck my fancy at the time that I thought would be an even exchange.  But something made me ask if there were any of the diamond stud earrings within the same price range.  I really didn't think there would be but he checked & brought out 2 pairs.  One was 1/3 carat total and was $40 more.  The other was, I think, 1/4 carat total and he said they were $80 less.  I asked wasn't there anything in between because that seemed like such a large jump from one size to the next.  He said he'd check somewhere else & came back and said that was all.  So I told Guy I'd take the smaller ones & he said "you really want the bigger ones don't you?"  I said no & he asked the man if we could have a minute to talk.  I told him I didn't want him to spend any more money because I thought he'd spent too much already (at the birthstone set, I'd seen the price of the ring was $139 & I knew the earrings & necklace had to be at least that much more.) and that we were going to have a lot of expenses coming up with the baby coming.  He said not to worry about it, that he wanted me to have the larger ones.  So I said ok.  Even at 1/3 carat total that means each 1/6 I guess.  They're only about 1/8" in diameter but they are real diamonds and we even got a certificate stating the value of them.  I glanced at it & I thought it said $550 but that can't be it! Guy wouldn't spend that much money when we're so strapped with money, even if it is charged.  The man folded the certificate and put it in an envelope.  We're going to put it in the safe diposit box.  But I'm tempted to look at it before we do.  It'll show up on the bill soon enough though.  That's the first time we've used the Penney's card in a long time.  I hope the payments aren't too high.  But then, if it's that much, it'll take a long time to pay off.

"I sat & cried for about 5 minutes"

                                                                                                                       December 28, 1990 (Part 3)
     I forgot to tell about his obedience classes.  He's had 3 so far.  We skipped last week & this because they're closed for the holidays.  He's done so-so overall.  The first week he did much better than either of us expected.  The second week he didn't do well at all.  He didn't want to go out on the floor with me - he was too distracted trying to keep his eye on Guy.  I finally signaled for Guy to come take over cause I couldn't get him to do anything.  I sat & cried for about 5 minutes cause I was so upset & frustrated.  The girl cut the class a little short to go over the problems on everyone's sheets.  A lot of people have the same problems.  About getting on the couch, or anywhere else they shouldn't, you should set up mousetraps.  She said it wouldn't hurt them but after being scared a few times they'd stay away from the area.  We got some the other day but haven't tried it yet.  As for practicing with him every day, I did it every day that I could but it's just getting so tiring, especially when it's cold outside.  The last time I did it was xmas eve.  Guy's done it every day I think except Sun. & xmas day.
     Back to our anniversary - I really dressed up for it.  I put my hair up on electric rollers (for the first time since cutting it) and it did a lot better than I thought.  Except by the time we got home the left side was flipping out at the front instead of under.  I had parted it on the left and pulled the right side back with my cream-colored bow with the pearl trim.  I really laid on the makeup too.  I wore my silky black skirt and the creamy white sweater with the gold metallic stripes.  I finally made the scarf to go with it last weekend.  It's alternating gold & silver 1" stripes.  I had intended to wear it down low like around the bottom of the sweater but there wasn't enough left to tie even wearing it that low.  I ended up tying it in a low square know around my neck.  I wore the silver heart earrings with the 'diamonds' hanging down.  I thought I looked very nice and when Guy came up to see if I was ready, the way he looked at me I knew he thought so too.  And he told me I looked beautiful.  That made it worth all the effort.

"I hope she's right."

Friday, December 28, 1990 (Part 2)

     I need to tell about our xmas now.  I got Guy new work shoes - his old ones had holes in the bottom of one - a new trash bag for his truck, some socks, the screwdriver set and electric ice scraper he asked for, & a key chain that has buttons you can push for different sound effects so he can 'zap' other drivers when he gets upset in traffic.  All that sounds puny next to what he got me: a mixer, a can opener with knife sharpener, a stethoscope, & a couple of paperbacks.  I was so excited about everything.  But then I was reading about my mixer & it said not to use it for heavy mixing such as bread dough.  That puzzled me til I realized that it said it had pastry hooks, not dough hooks.  Then I also realized it was 6 speeds & not 12 & that it only had one bowl.  I pointed out to Guy what it said about heavy mixing & he pointed out that it said it could cause the motor to overheat or burnout, not that it would.  He said he thought it would do fine.  We went back & forth on it off & on for a couple of days.  He was disappointed because he thought he was doing good getting me what I wanted.  I told him I didn't realize there were 2 different kinds of hooks or I would have noted the difference on my wish list.  He said we could exchange it for a different one but that we'd have to charge the difference.  He said this only cost about $36 and the next one up was $100 more.  So that made me feel worse & wish I didn't ever say anything about it.  I know we shouldn't charge stuff for the baby.  But he started looking for the receipt for the mixer & couldn't find it so I may have to keep it after all.  I told him maybe I could just tell them it was a gift & I didn't have the receipt.  I also said I'd just look at the other mixers before deciding what to do.  I think we're going out to the malls tomorrow.  I wish he hadn't had to go back to work today.
     We went over to Steve & Jill Lowell's for xmas dinner.  We left about 1:00 and came home about 10:00.  Butch Plummer, their single, was there too.  We ate around 3:00 then visited.  We tried playing Rook but we were all so rusty & couldn't figure the rules out so we gave up on that and played UNO.  Then we played Trivial Pursuit and Butch & Steve beat me & Guy!  It seemed like we couldn't get anything right most of the time, especially in geography which is usually Guy's strong point.  It was fun anyway but it was a tiring day.  We had waited to feed Chief til about an hour before we left so he could go potty & be ok til we got back.  He was a desperate puppy when we got back though.  Guy found a small puddle in front of the stove but didn't spank him.
     We had to put a fence around the xmas tree to keep Chief away from it.  He got one of the reindeer ornaments off & chewed it up.  He apparently ate the eyes & the tiny wooden bell as well as the yarn parts and one of the yarn bows off the tree skirt.  A couple of times in the past few weeks Guy caught Chief sleeping on the couch.  We started putting stuff on the couch so he couldn't get up there. Oh, we got him a doggie bed and put away his cage a few weeks ago.  He took to it without too much trouble.  But he got into mischief just while ago.  I had counted out 10 kisses to eat & had had 6 already.  I stopped writing to go to the bathroom & came back & started writing again.  Chief reached up to try & get a kiss & I realized that there was only 1 kiss there!  I recounted all the empty wrappers to be sure & looked all over the couch and around & couldn't find the missing ones.  So I called the vets office & talked to a lady there.  She said just that few shouldn't hurt - it's when they eat a large amount of chocolate, like a whole bag of kisses, that it can be toxic to them.  She said that he might vomit or have diarrhea but most likely it would all pass through, wrappers too, without hurting him anywhere from 12-24 hours.  I hope she's right.

"a necklace & earrings to match the ring!"

Friday, December 28, 1990 (Part 1)

     I didn't get much sleep yesterday afternoon before Guy came in to wake me up.  He says I need to do better about taking a nap in the afternoons & not worry about Chief.  I guess he's right cause I sure don't get enough sleep at night.  It seems like whatever time I go to sleep, I wake up about 5 hrs. later either needing to go to the bathroom or thirsty or with that sick feeling.  This morning it was about 2:00 or 4-4&1/2 hrs. later & I kinda started feeling sick but it wasn't like the past two mornings.  For one thing I started sleeping in a T-shirt instead of my flannel nightgowns so I don't wake up hot.  But this morning I was so thirsty I had Guy bring me a glass of milk & drank half of it at once.  I had a little trouble getting back to sleep, just getting comfortable.  I heard Guy's alarm & remember reminding him when he went downstairs to bring me some OJ when he left.  I was asleep when he came back & he was telling me about Chief getting one of his socks while he wasn't looking and ripped it up.  He spanked him.  I didn't hear any of it.  I think I heard Chief whimper once after Guy left but I didn't have any trouble getting back to sleep.  I only woke up once before my alarm went off.  And it made a weird noise at first before it sounded like normal.
     Anyway, I got up at 8:30, did my medicine, ate breakfast, played a little with Chief, & got ready for my appt. with the nutritionist.  I couldn't believe it when the scale said 122 & 1/4!  She said my last visit had been 116 & 1/2, two weeks ago.  I told her what all I had been going on.  She went and talked to Dr. Rand & took me to the lab & asked for a random blood sugar level.  It was just a finger prick and she got the results in just a few minutes.  It was 96.  I asked her what number would it need to be for me to start worrying & she said about 120, so she said I'm normal so far.  She said if I kept having these spells I could come in and have another random test, then when I see Dr. Rand next month decide if we should go ahead & do the diabetes screening which I think is when you don't eat and you drink the stuff & wait a certain length of time for the blood test.  I feel better knowing that it's not my blood sugar.  She said that the concentrations of hormones do increase overnight and are greatest in the early morning.  She also said she has similar symptoms sometimes (she's a couple of weeks farther along than me) so I feel a little better knowing that too.  But still, that is a lot of weight to gain in 2 weeks.  She told me to try cutting back on the fats some.  By not buttering my bread or adding extra to my veggies.  She asked if I wanted to try low-fat milk & I said not really so she said ok, just to cut back elsewhere.  So I guess we'll see how it goes.
     Well, we had our anniversary dinner last night.  I was surprised & disappointed that they didn't do anything special for us at all.  We picked up a matchbook on our way out to write it in our selves.  We exchanged gifts before we left.  I should've known what he was getting me from the questions he was asking about ring sizes & birthstones.  He got me a birthstone ring with four little diamonds around it.  I had gotten him a hardback copy of Trail of Tears by John Ehle, about the Cherokees.  I'd read it from the library and tried to get him to read it but he didn't have time before I had to take it back.  I was sure he'd like it because of his grandmother being a Cherokee.  He seemed to be pleased.
     Then he surprised me by bringing out another present for me.  It was a necklace & earrings to match the ring! He said that the lady said we could exchange them for the same thing in white-gold.  For that reason, I didn't wear the earrings cause I know you can't return pierced earrings after you've worn them.  We're going to Penney's tomorrow to look at what else they have - he said I didn't have to keep it in my birthstone because when he was asking me those questions last week & I said I preferred whichever one was pink.  But these are so pretty I may keep them in the yellow-gold.  He said for me not to be shocked at how much they were - he charged them.  That'll be another monthly payment we'll have now.  I forgot to mention that he also game me a half dozen red roses!

(To be continued...)